Colbert: Hitler would have raised the minimum wage

On Wednesday night’s edition of “The Colbert Report,” host Stephen Colbert expressed his solidarity with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto, who said striking fast food workers should be grateful for whatever jobs they can get.

“Nation it pains me,” he began, “that in a country with such wealth as ours that there are still so many in poverty. And it pains me even more when those people won’t stop whining about it. ‘I want a union, I want safety regulations, I need ALL my fingers.'”

“And now that whining comes with a side of fries,” he continued, then played news clips about the thousands of fast food workers all over the country who are striking for better working conditions and a living wage.

“The consequences of a wage increase are horrifying to contemplate,” Colbert said. Paying the more than 3.5 million fast food workers in this country a living wage would “eliminate 3.6 million poor people,” he warned. “That’s the kind of thing Hitler used to talk about.”

He went on to say that someone who is just as steamed about the idea of raising the minimum wage is Fox News’ Neil Cavuto. Last week Cavuto went on a rant about how workers should be grateful for any job they can find, no matter how low the wages.

Colbert agreed and said that he and Cavuto should start their own segment, “Rich White Guys Agreeing with Each Other.”

“Folks, if you’re out of work, you need to get up off your sesame seed buns and take anything you can get,” Colbert said. “Just listen to Neil’s inspiring story.”

“All I know,” said Cavuto, “is as soon as I turned 16 and heard a fast food chain called Arthur Treacher’s was opening a store in my town of Danbury, Connecticut, I stood in a line for a position — any position. I got the job, and soon rocketed to relief manager, then weekend manager, then by the tender age of 16-and-a-half years old, full-time store manager! And it all started at two bucks an hour.”

“Hear that strikers?” Colbert asked, “Neil only made two dollars an hour at age 16 and somehow still paid his rent and fed his kids.”

About the Author

David Ferguson is an editor at Raw Story. He was previously writer and radio producer in Athens, Georgia, hosting two shows for Georgia Public Broadcasting and blogging at Firedoglake.com and elsewhere. He is currently working on a book.